The present invention relates to a method for unloading a poultry transport container which comprises at least one loading tray with a side unloading flap. Further the invention relates to an apparatus for carrying out this method.
In a known method, a poultry transport container, which is formed by a number of loosely stacked crates, is unstacked at an appropriate location, whereafter the crates are unloaded through their unloading flaps. The poultry unloaded in this manner is then conveyed to a first processing station.
It is a disadvantage of this known unloading method that the poultry is rather disturbed by handling of the crates during unstacking and unloading, especially when the poultry transport container comprises a large number of crates stacked one on top of the other. This makes further processing of the poultry rather difficult. Further, it appears in practice that slaughtering disturbed poultry leads to an inferior quality of the flesh compared to slaughtering calm poultry. Thus it is common practice nowadays that trucks supplying poultry transport containers comprising poultry to a slaughter house stand still for a while near to the slaughter house before starting unloading, such that the poultry will be unloaded at ease. However, the known unloading method completely subverts this effect.